Friday, 29 October 2010

Cameron sharpens his axe for Boris's development agency

Staff at Boris Johnson's redevelopment agency were told today that only budgets "already legally committed" to would be paid next year as David Cameron gets set to axe the LDA.

News earlier this week that the agency's £489 million budget would be wiped out were confirmed by a spokesperson for the LDA today who said that the organisation would close entirely by 2012.

Their budget will be slashed to £56 million next year before disappearing altogether in 2012.

Hundreds of jobs will be lost in the process.

GLA Chief Executive Leo Boland told staff today that Boris was "continuing to negotiate with the Government over the LDA’s settlement" and "working through the potential impact" of the cuts.

However, the huge funding reductions means that many of the Mayor's development and environment programmes will soon cease to exist entirely.

Green Assembly Member Darren Johnson said today:

"The Government has cut the Mayor's plans to create 14,000 jobs, cut our energy bills and revitalise our parks. With no money to pay for his flagship programmes, his climate change strategies now lie in tatters. The Mayor's defence of the environment was more of a Maginot Line than a Stalingrad moment."